About Us
About Us
Established over 25 years ago, Dagnall Under 5’s aims to provide a safe and secure environment in which children can learn and develop. Serving Dagnall and the surrounding villages, we have close links to local schools, churches and communities.
From our last OFSTED we are currently rated as GOOD 14/02/2020.
All our staff are checked by the relevant authorities to ensure their suitability and are qualified or working towards qualifications to DCSF standards. This means our playgroup leaders have to be qualified to level three and assistants to at least level 2. Four members of staff have First Aid training.
We welcome children from 2 years to school age, including children with special needs and we have 1 SEND trained staff member.
Government funding is available at Dagnall Under Fives for children aged 2 – 4 years old.
We also take work vouchers.
Non – funded places are £16.00 per session
Parents are invoiced at the beginning of each half term.
*Dagnall Under Fives is a registered charity and is managed by a parent committee which ensures that major decision making is in the hands of the parents who use the group. The committee is responsible for reviewing both policy and practice, and the employment and appraisal of staff.
Playgroup Timetable
9:00am – Playgroup Opens
Register, the date, the weather, birthdays, news time, and name recognition, Hello song.
9:45am – Free Flow
Art activity or other focused activity with a member of staff, inside or out
10:30am – 11:00am Snack Time
Children have the opportunity to help a member of staff prepare snacks which we then share as a group.
11:00am - Story and Song Time
We share a story & songs.
11:15am – Free Flow
Group Games and table top games, inside or out.
12:00pm – Tidy Up Time
Discussion with the children about the morning and Goodbye song
12:00pm – Home Time
Group exercises to help with balance and co-ordination.
For the rising four year olds.
Meet The Team
What Do The Parents Say?
From the moment we visited Dagnall Under Fives they totally out shone the other pre-schools we had visited. It is clear from the first meeting that the teams full focus is the children and making their time with them fun but educational at the same time, whilst recognising they are all individuals with their own funny toddler ways. They have an amazing way of encouraging the children by engaging them in wonderfully fun activities so at times they do not even realise they are learning. Our daughter has thrived with DUF’s and, whilst I know she will be fully ready and prepared to start school (all thanks to Dagnall), I know she will miss all the team and all the fun that she has everyday with them. Cannot thank you all enough!
Sarah Newman
I felt welcome the moment I walked in and I knew my son would be well cared for, he developed and grew to go on to primary school with confidence and excitement!! Now my second son attends and I know how well loved and cared for he is. The staff love them and know them inside out. They are nurtured and encouraged in everything they do. I couldn’t think of anywhere better to care for my children.
Lynsey Magee
My Daughter was just 2 when she started at DUFS it was a very hard and emotional time for my Daughter and I, however the amazing staff at DUFS where fantastic at helping us both. She attends everyday and Since June last year she has come on leaps and bounds, her confidence, speech and learning! Can’t thank the staff enough all Stars
Louise Ansell Collins
Both of my Boys has attended DUFs and have absolutely loved it! I chose DUFs over all of the pre-schools and nursery’s in the area for one main reason, the love and care all of the team provide. From the outset the “home from home” feel had a huge effect on them settling in straight away and feeling comfortable and secure in their surroundings. Whilst DUFs provides the structure and routine that prepares them for school, the emphasis is always on the child and their needs. The range of activities from their weekly Football sessions with a coach, to the vast amounts of arts and crafts available, along with the daily reading and numeracy references, the boys were never bored, or under-stimulated. I can’t thank DUFs enough, and would highly recommend them.
Kerry Ahir
Both my children attend DUF’s, every morning is always a warm welcome to both myself and my children! I feel happy knowing that not only are my children being looked after, but being loved and nurtured by all of the lovely ladies that work here! Every day they learn something new and do different things! My children are happy and so am I! DUFs have really supported me as a mum when I’ve needed advice, had any worries or concerns with my children and their development. It truly is a lovely play group with a real family feel where you can tell, to these ladies it’s not just their job, they put so much love and care into making everyday special for the most special little people in our lives! Thank You DUFs!!
Everyday is different. Welcoming smiley faces, varied activities, outdoor playtime, singing and stories always means my son looks forward to playgroup.
Dagnall Staff truly ensure that each child is as unique and special to them as they are to the parents.
Staff encourage children to try new experiences and learn through play. The playgroup has a good Ofsted report and my daughter is constantly telling me about the yummy hot and healthy daily snacks!
My Children are very happy and settled at Dagnall playgroup. With a good staff to child ratio, the little ones build strong relationships with their key person, adults and the other children.
British Values and Rights Respecting at Playgroup
British Values
Promoting democracy – everyone has a voice and is listened to
Rule of law - being consistent with our rules and boundaries.
Individual liberty - promotes self -confidence and self -awareness
Teaching mutual respect and tolerance - ensuring children have the right to say ‘no’ and be respected for their choices; including world religions and festivals in our planning to teach children about the world in which they live; linking children’s learning so they understand they are part of a much wider world; displaying posters and reading books which show world religions and cultures, blended families, disability, equality of opportunity etc as the norm.
Here are some examples of how British Values are embedded in our day-to-day curriculum at Playgroup:
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We support children to be kind, helpful and respectful of others;
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We help children to be part of their local community;
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We plan to celebrate festivals and mark special days from the world around us;
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We teach the children about compromise – that some of us believe one thing… some of us believe something totally different… but we can all play together in the same house (or group setting) and respect each other = British values – teaching about similarities and differences.
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We support children to work together – where children learn to listen, take turns and value contributions from others. This is a very important part of British values = teaching about shared values and working together towards a common goal;
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We teach children about the world in which they live – the world on their doorstep and the wider world – through books, posters, planned activities, resources, outings and much more;
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We encourage children to listen and respect others…
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We teach children about the world around them and use the seasons, weather, special days etc
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We extend teaching by using online sources of information and support them as they learn to respect others by introducing music, dance, art etc from around the world.
Rights Respecting
At Dagnall Under Fives We Believe:
Article 28. Every child has the right to an education
Article 29. Education must develop every child’s personality, talent and abilities to the full
Article 31. Every child has the right to play
The Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA) recognises achievement in putting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) at the heart of a school’s planning, policies, practice and ethos. A rights-respecting school not only teaches about children’s rights but also models rights and respect in all its relationships: between teachers / adults and pupils, between adults and between pupils.
Who is the Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA) for?
The RRSA is a UK-wide initiative for all children and all those working with or for children in formal education. It is being successfully implemented in all settings – Primary, Secondary, Special Needs and Pupil Referral Units – across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
How does the RRSA link with other school initiatives?
The initiative unifies a range of educational priorities in all UK jurisdictions; the global dimension, SEAL (social and emotional aspects of learning), community cohesion and sustainable development.
What impact does the RRSA have?
A three year qualitative study by researchers at the Universities of Sussex and Brighton found that “The RRSA has had a profound effect on the majority of the schools involved in the programme.”
How is the RRSA funded?
As a registered charity we rely entirely on voluntary donations to fund our vital work for children and their rights. Therefore we charge for regional courses, school visits, local authority support, assessments and other activities. Our RRSA programme does not make a profit – it simply aims to cover our running costs.
RRSA and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
The universality of the CRC provides a clear link for pupils between building up their rights-respecting school, understanding their rights and the need for children’s rights to be realised everywhere. Children and young people in rights-respecting schools develop a stronger sense of the need to act for global justice.
SALLEY - Learning Fun
SALLEY is a complete programme, which can be used as a prevention measure in the early years or as an intervention programme with older children who are having difficulties developing phonological awareness skills.
It consists of 100 days of activities which are multi-sensory and are designed to appeal to Foundation Stage children. SALLEY starts at the very beginning by teaching listening skills and then goes through the key linguistic concepts needed to ensure a sound learning foundation for learning about phonemes.
By the end of the programme, children are able to understand both real and non words. They are taught to discriminate syllables and individual phonemes in a step by step manner, using recurrent themes, which adopts the errorless learning approach.
Children are also taught how to rhyme and sequence sounds using fun games and to develop their auditory memory skills. This approach provides the skills that children need to have firmly in place, before they embark on a phonics programme.
The programme can be delivered to groups or to individuals and has been extensively trialled. The research evidence, using control groups, showed that children who had gone through the programme made significant gains in their phonological awareness. It is also possible to identify children at risk of (specific learning difficulty) dyslexia at a very young age.
Angela Hurd & Diana McQueen
2008 (SALLEY TOOLKIT)
Latest News
Though this term is just beginning we have already had such a lot of fun. The children have all come back brilliantly and settled in again with us very well. All our new friends have settled really quickly and are already accessing all areas of playgroup with minimal support.
As you may or may not know DUFS is a committee lead playgroup which means it is heavily reliant on parents and carers coming together to support Ann and her team in as many ways as possible. Our principle role is to ensure that the group operates in line with its policies and procedures. We also arrange fundraising throughout the year to ensure that the group has effective and sufficient resources to support the early years programme.
Do you use Facebook? If so, join our group – Dagnall Under Fives (DUFS)
By joining the Facebook page parents can see weekly what we have achieved and can always contact via the page when a child is not attending.
If you haven’t done so already please can you complete a contact form (available from Ann) so that we can add you to our text/email list to keep you updated.